our low carbon future strategy
TRANSCRIPT
July 2009
Our Low Carbon FutureCity of Boroondara Strategy
Balwyn NorthKew East
Kew
Balwyn
CanterburySurrey Hills
MontAlbert
Camberwell
Glen Iris
Ashburton
Hawthorn
HawthornEast
July 2009
Prepared by
City of BoroondaraEnvironment & Sustainable Living Department360 Burwood RoadHawthorn 3122
In association with
Net Balance Management Group (with assistance from Marsden Jacob Associates)
AcknowledgementsCouncil would like to thank the following groups and individuals for their valued contribution to the preparation of the Strategy:
Michelle Justus and Robyn Leeson (from Net Balance •Management Group)
Nadja Wiedemann (from Marsden Jacob Associates)•
Members of Council's Sustainability Working Group, and the •project's internal reference group.
Community members that provided feedback during the •project’s consultation phase.
Our Low Carbon Future - City of Boroondara Strategy
Contents
City of Boroondara StrategyOur Low Carbon Future
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................. 1
2. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 2
3. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 3
3.1 International context ....................................................................................................................33.2 National context ...........................................................................................................................33.3 Local context ...............................................................................................................................4
4. VISION, PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTIVES ..................................................................... 54.1 Vision ...........................................................................................................................................54.2 Principles .....................................................................................................................................54.3 Objectives ....................................................................................................................................5
5. BOROONDARA’S EMISSIONS INVENTORY .................................................................. 6
5.1 Corporate emissions....................................................................................................................65.2 Community emissions .................................................................................................................7
6. STRATEGIC TARGETS AND PRIORITY ACTION AREAS ................................................ 8
6.1 Targets .........................................................................................................................................86.2 Priority action areas .....................................................................................................................96.3 Estimated savings from early actions ........................................................................................106.4 Complementary actions .............................................................................................................12
7. ACTION PLAN ............................................................................................................ 137.1 Corporate action plan ................................................................................................................147.2 Community action plan ..............................................................................................................16
8. MONITORING AND REVIEW PLAN ............................................................................ 188.1 Review checkpoints ...................................................................................................................188.2 Annual monitoring program .......................................................................................................198.3 Three year monitoring program .................................................................................................19
City of Boroondara StrategyOur Low Carbon Future
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1
heading
City of Boroondara StrategyOur Low Carbon Future
Since 2001, the City of Boroondara has participated in the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP™) and CCP Plus programs. Council has been involved in reducing greenhouse gas emissions since the early 1990s. In this time Council has undertaken a wide range of initiatives to reduce corporate emissions, and as a result, has stabilised corporate emissions despite some expansion of facilities and services. While this is a notableachievement,inlightofaneweraofincreasedcommunityexpectations,andachangingscientificand political context, Council has committed to stepping up its action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The 2008 — 2013 Council PlanidentifiedtheneedtodevelopastrategythatleadstheCityofBoroondaratowards a carbon neutral future.
The work to develop a new strategic approach has been completed and provided in two documents:
Our Low Carbon Future - City of Boroondara Strategy• Our Low Carbon Future - Background Report. •
Thestrategyallowsflexibilityinitsapproachtoaccountfortherapidlychangingpoliticalandsocialcontextsurrounding climate change and greenhouse gas abatement, and the emergence of new technologies and practices.
The strategy’s vision is drawn from the ‘Vision theme 2: Managing a Sustainable Environment’ within Our Boroondara – Our City Our Future:
“By working together and changing practices in our natural and built environments, we can help create a sustainable City and future.”
Thefiveprinciples thatwill support this visionhavebeendeveloped toacknowledge themanybenefitsassociated with undertaking greenhouse reduction measures:
Leadership by Council with the community1. Assuming a moral obligation to act2. Pursuitofmultiplebenefitsanda“noregrets”approachtoaction3. Action prioritised by impact4. Equity in both strategy and action.5.
The City of Boroondara proposes two clear and ambitious targets in the strategy:
• Corporate target - To reduce Council’s corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 30 - 40% below 2007/08 levels by 2020. • Council’s community measures target - To support programs and projects with the community that achieveemissionreductionsof12,400tonnesCO2-einthefirstyear(2009/10)andanabatementtotalof at least 50,000 tonnes CO2-e by 2020.
The strategy also includes an action plan for the initial three-year period that clearly prioritises improving energyefficiencywithinCounciloperationsandamongstourcommunityandbusinesses.
The strategy’s monitoring and review plan sets a number of review points when the relevance of various approaches and actions may be reconsidered. In this way, actions within the strategy can be either retired or expanded depending on changing Commonwealth and international frameworks.
1. Executive summary
heading
City of Boroondara Strategy
2
“Developments in mainstream scientific opinion on the relationship between emissions accumulations and climate outcomes…suggest that the world is moving towards high risks of dangerous climate change more rapidly than has generally been understood. This makes mitigation more urgent and more costly. At the same time, it makes the probable effects of unmitigated climate change more costly, for Australia and for the world”.1
The strategy outlines the City of Boroondara’s response to contributing to a safer climate future and sets a vision, principles and mid-term targets as a pathway towards the City of Boroondara’s low carbon future. The action plans detail key early actions towards achieving these targets.
The political and social context surrounding climate change and greenhouse gas abatement continues tochange.ThestrategybuildsinflexibilitytoallowCouncil to adapt to the changing external context. The strategy’s principles also intend to reflect themultiple social and economic benefits that manygreenhouse gas reduction measures provide — ensuring that Council takes a holistic and long-term approach.
Theapproachoutlinedinthefigurebelowhasbeenused to develop the vision, principles, targets and actions that are presented in this strategy.
The background report provides further information and rationale for the decisions and statements made in this strategy.
2. Introduction
1 Garnaut Climate Change Review: Interim Report to the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments of Australia, February 2008.
DEVELOPMENT OF THIS STRATEGY
Literature review
Establish vision and principles for carbon management
Scope and quantity carbon emissions
Set targets and objectives
Corporate Community
Develop action plan
Develop a monitoring and review plan
Model scenarios for the achievement of targets and objectives
Long term complementary actionsThree year corporate actionsFigure 1: Development of the Our Low Carbon Future – City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
3City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
3.1 International context
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that current global atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases far exceed the natural range of the last 650,000 years. As the concentration level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, so too do global average mean surface temperatures, resulting in some major shifts in climatic patterns and ecological conditions.
The IPCC states that in order to limit atmospheric carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) concentrations in the atmosphere to 450 parts per million (ppm), developed countries must reduce their emissions by between 25 - 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 and by 80 - 95% by 2050. The report states that at a concentration of 450ppm, an average temperature rise of two degrees can be expected. Given that a rise in temperature beyond two degrees is likely to result in ‘dangerous climate change’ impacts, there is ongoing tension between what is considered achievable at the national and international political level, and what scale and speed of transformation may ultimately be required to deliver a safe climate future.
3.2 National context
The Australian Government ratified the KyotoProtocol in 2007. Under the treaty, Australia’s target is to restrict greenhouse gas emissions to 8% above 1990 levels during the 2008 - 12 commitment period. The Government has also set a longer term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% on 2000 levels by 2050.
During 2008, the Australian Government made a commitment to a 5 - 15% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 (based on 2000 levels).
To support these targets, the Australian Government released its White Paper Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme: Australia’s Low Pollution Future in December 2008. The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) is a market-based, cap and trade
mechanism which puts a ‘price on carbon’ that is designed to flow through to an increase in thecosts of carbon intensive products and activities. It is intended that individuals and businesses will respond to this price signal and become more energy efficient and less carbon intensive in theirbehaviour and consumption choices.
In May 2009, the Australian Government announced further detail and some changes to its approach to emissionstradingandtargetsetting.Specifically:
The operation of the CPRS should commence in •July 2011, with enabling legislation tabled before Parliament in June 2009 Afixedcarbonpriceof$10pertonneatscheme•start up in 2011-2012 (compared to an original startpriceof$23)followedbyfullmarketpricingin the second year The adoption of a 25% reduction target by 2020 •based on 2000 levels will be activated if an international agreement is reached to stabilise emissions at 450ppm.
An important implication of the CPRS for individuals, businesses and councils is that many types of actions to reduce an individual’s or organisation’s emissions will no longer reduce overall emissions beyond the nationally adopted target.2 Under the current design of the scheme, the primary way that individuals could make an impact on Australia’s total emissions will be to purchase and ‘retire’ carbon permits created under the CPRS. Further information on how individual action will contribute under the proposed CPRS is expected later this year. This will include the release of a National Carbon Offsets Standard, intended to ensure greater certainty and credibility of any ‘carbon offsets’ purchased by individuals and businesses.
3. Background
2 For further reading on this issue, visit the Voluntary Carbon Markets Association website (www.vcma.org.au)
City of Boroondara Strategy
4
3.3 Local context
For over a decade now, an increasing number of local governments across Australia have accepted the challenge of responding to climate change and taken early action to reducing their emissions. Many councils were supported in this action through participation in the Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Australia Program3 delivered by ICLEI Oceania.
In 2001, the City of Boroondara joined CCP Australia and developed its original Greenhouse Strategy. The 2001 strategy set goals to reduce greenhouse emissions by 20% (below 1996 levels) by 2010 for both ‘corporate’ (ie Council operations) and the ‘community’ (ie the whole of the municipality). Since that time, Council has implemented a wide range of actions to reduce corporate emissions and to influencecommunityemissions.
Other policies and strategies have been developed that support Council’s greenhouse reduction efforts, including: Environment Policy; Purchasing Policy; Waste Minimisation and Recycling Strategy 2003-2010; Integrated Transport Plan 2006; and Bicycle Plan 2007.
While Council is not on track to achieve the corporate goal set in 2001, its investment in action has stabilised corporate energy use and emissions despite ongoing expansion of Council services and facilities.
The Council’s impact on community’s emissions is moredifficulttotrack,andCouncilhassignificantlyless ability to directly reduce these emissions.
Despite Council’s incentives and support programs, such as the innovative Living for Our Future program delivered in partnership with Swinburne University, Boroondara’s community emissions have continued to rise. Indeed, average per capita carbon emissions in Boroondara are understood to be amongst the highest in the world4.
The 2008 - 2013 Council Plan identified theneedto develop an up-to-date and integrated strategy to guide the City of Boroondara’s actions towards a carbon neutral future.
A key outcome of this strategy has been to review progress against the original CCP goals and set new targets and objectives for 2020.
3 CCP Australia has been delivered by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability – Oceania in partnership with the Australian Government. It supports a program management framework to measure emissions, set reduction goals, develop an action plan, implement, and then monitor and review progress.4 According to the Australian Conservation Foundation’s recent Consumption Atlas, the average Victorian is creating 19.7 tonnes of greenhouse pollution per year, and the average Boroondara resident 25 tonnes per year.
Figure 2: City of Boroondara
Our Low Carbon Future
5City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
4.1 Vision
This strategy’s vision is drawn from the ‘Vision theme 2: Managing a Sustainable Environment’ within Our Boroondara – Our City Our Future:
“By working together and changing practices in our natural and built environments, we can help create a sustainable City and future.”
4.2 Principles
Five principles have been developed to reflectCouncil’s thinking, and guide the selection of the strategy’s targets and priority actions:
Principle 1: Leadership by Council with the communityThis principle supports Council’s leadership role and commitment to contributing to climate change mitigation efforts in accordance with world best practice.
Principle 2: Assuming a moral obligation to actThis principle recognises the moral obligation for Council and our society to ‘do its bit’ in response to the serious long-term threat that climate change poses to our economy, environment and way of life. This principle acknowledges that per capita emissions in Boroondara, Victoria and Australia are amongst the highest in the world. Council assumes an obligation to go beyond legislative requirements to help create a sustainable future.
Principle 3: Pursuit of multiple benefits and a ‘no regrets’ approach to actionCouncil acknowledges that there are often multiple benefitsassociatedwith reducingourgreenhousegas emissions. The ‘no regrets’ approach is one in which actions to reduce our greenhouse gas emissionscanalsobejustifiedonothereconomic,environmental or social grounds.
Principle 4: Action prioritised by impactThis principle supports actions being developed and prioritised according to their ability to affect change.
Principle 5: Equity in both strategy and actionThis principle supports both inter-generational and intra-generational equity. Council believes that the burden of climate change mitigation and its impacts should not be deferred to another generation (ie our grandchildren) nor fall unfairly among the current generation (for example, on lower income households within the municipality). This principle also supports an emphasis on directly reducing Council’s consumption and emissions in preference to purchasing offsets, which can be considered ‘buying’ a solution due to access to funding to do so.
4.3 Objectives
The principles are complemented by a set of core objectives that reflect the combination of benefitsbeing sought through implementation of this strategy. These are to:
reduce Council’s own greenhouse gas 1. emissions reduce aggregate emissions for Australia2. reduce the impact of increasing energy prices on 3. Council’s budget reduce the impact of increasing energy prices on 4. vulnerable sectors of the community support the Australian Government to introduce 5. more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets increase local energy security through investment 6. in renewable energy sources.
Together with the principles, the objectives help guide the selection of strategic actions (Section 6.2) and complementary approaches (Section 6.4).
4. Vision, principles and objectives
heading
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5.1 Corporate emissions
The City of Boroondara’s most recent corporate emissions inventory includes emissions from energy used in all Council operated and owned buildings, street lighting, Council fleet, refrigerant leakage,taxi and air travel5.
Corporate emissions for 2007-08,are presented in Table 1 andFigure 3 below, are classified by thesource of the emissions.
The emissions resulting from Council’s corporate operations totalled 26,837 tonnes CO2-e in 2007-08. The purchase of electricity for Council’s buildings is the largest contributor to corporate emissions (45%). The purchase of electricity for street lighting was also a large contributor (28%), while the purchase of gasforbuildingsandvehiclefueladdedsignificantquantities.
Table 1 – Corporate greenhouse gas emissions by source 2007-08
Source CO2-e (tonnes)
Buildings: electricity 12,242Street lighting: electricity 7,424Buildings: gas 2,839Vehicles: fuel 2,217Other Scope 3 emissions 6 1,787Refrigerant leakage (estimate only) 297Air travel 26Taxi 5Total 26,837
Based on this inventory, the highest priority areas for action to reduce corporate emissions are buildings and street lighting.
5. Boroondara’s emissions inventory
5 Emissions arising from Council’s own organic waste to landfill (eg. food waste from council offices) are not currently tracked separately and so have not been included in Council’s previous or most recent corporate inventories – all emissions from municipal waste are reported within the community emissions inventory (See Section 5.2). Council’s potential compliance obligations under the CPRS as it relates to landfill management will be addressed outside of this strategy in the short- to medium-term. 6 Refers to the emissions associated with the transportation, distribution, line losses, extraction, production and transmission of purchased electricity and natural gas.
Figure 3 – Corporate greenhouse gas emissions 2007-08
Buildings: Electricity
45%
Refrigerant Leakage
1%
Buildings: Gas11%
Vehicles: Fuel8%
Other Scope 3 Emissions7%Air Travel
<1%Taxi<1%
Streetlighting: Electricity
28%
Other Scope 3 emissions
Air travel
Taxi
Vehicles: fuel
Buildings: gas
Refrigerant leakage
Streetlighting: electricity
Buildings: electricity
Our Low Carbon Future
heading
7City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
5.2 Community emissions
The community emissions inventory aims to estimate the total emissions arising from activities within the Boroondara municipality. The community inventory is based on a combination of Council data (for waste emissions) and default data (for residential, commercial, industrial and transport emissions) provided by ICLEI — Oceania as part of Council’s participation in the CCP Australia program. The data provided by ICLEI is based on 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data and reflects theBoroondara community’s proportionate share of Australia’s total emissions.
AsreflectedinTable2andFigure4,totalcommunityemissions are estimated at 1,762,694 tonnes CO2-e. The residential sector contributes the greatest proportion of greenhouse gas emissions (37%) followed by the commercial sector (32%) and transportation (26%). The waste and industrial sector emissions contributed 4% and 1% respectively.
Sector CO2 -e (tonnes)Residential (2006) 678,302Commercial (2006) 558,293Transportation (2006) 454,160Waste (2007-08) 62,545Industrial (2006) 9,665Total 1,761,694
Based on this inventory, the highest priority areas for action to reduce community emissions are in the residential and commercial sectors, followed by transportation. Waste is also an important action area given Council’s role in municipal waste management.
Residential37%
Waste 4%
Transportation26%
Industrial1%
Commercial32%
Figure 4 - Community greenhouse gas emissions by sector
Table 2 – Community greenhouse gas emissions by sector
heading
City of Boroondara Strategy
8
6.1 Targets
The City of Boroondara has proposed two targets for Our Low Carbon Future Strategy. The targets will become performance indicators for Council to track progress against and report on over time:
• Corporate target - To reduce Council’s corporate greenhouse gas emissions by 30-40% below 2007-08 levels by 2020.
• Council’s community measures target - To support community programs and projects that achieve emissions reductions of 12,400 tonnesCO2-einthefirstyear(2009-10)andan abatement total of at least 50,000 tonnes CO2-e by 2020.
The community measures target is an ‘abatement target’ based on potential emissions savings from Council’s priority community actions. It assumes successful ‘take-up’ of the priority actions by a certain number of households each year (for example, 500 households per year switch to solar water heaters in thefirstthreeyears,then250householdsperyearto 2020).
Additionally, Council proposes an aspirational ‘community goal’ for our municipality to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% below 2006 levels by 2020. Council acknowledges that it has some influence over greenhouse gas emissionsgenerated by residents and businesses in the municipality, though there are many contributing factors over which Council has little direct control. Achieving a 30% reduction in the community’s emissions will require strong structural and policy commitment from all levels of government and a wide cross-section of our residents and businesses. Council will contribute to this goal through advocacy to the Victorian and Australian governments, implementation of projects in priority action areas (see Section 6.2), broader community education for sustainability, and continuously improving practices in our natural and built environment.
6. Strategic targets and priority action areas
Our Low Carbon Future
9City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
6.2 Priority action areas
The highest priority action areas are based on analysis of the two emissions inventories (see Section 5), an assessment of potential actions against the principles and objectives as well as their likely contribution towards meeting the targets. Table 3 summarises the highest priority action areas and the types of actions that rate most highly.
Table 3 – Highest priority action areas and related actions
Priority action areas
Type of action
CorporateBuildings Energyefficiencyopportunities,inparticular:
co-generation plants for leisure and aquatic facilities•continued integration of Ecologically Sustainable Design (ESD) principles •and technologies across Council’s buildings and facilities (ie maintenance, refurbishments, and new buildings). In adopting this strategy, Council resolved that, where possible, all new Council buildings and major refurbishment projects be of 5 star equivalent standard7. Note: potential costs and savings from this action not yet calculated.
Street lighting Energyefficiencyimprovements,inparticular:replacementofMV80lampswithmoreefficienttwinT5lamps.•
Fleet Fleetefficiencyimprovements,inparticular:smallerfleetcarswith‘bestinclass’fuelefficiency.•
CommunityResidential Promotionandincentivestodriveuptakeofresidentialenergyefficiency
opportunities, in particular:
replacementofinefficientwaterheaterswithsolar(gasboosted)waterheaters•replacementoflightglobesandshowerheadswithmoreefficienttypes• installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar power systems.•
Commercial Promotionandincentivestodriveuptakeofcommercialenergyefficiencyopportunities, in particular:
retrofitofexistingcommercialbuildings.•
7 The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) has not released Green Star rating tools or certification directly applicable to Councils’ building types (ie municipal offices, leisure centres, libraries etc). As an alternative, Council is likely to establish an Ecologically Sustainable Design (ESD) policy to express its expectations relating to the environmental performance of Council buildings.
Corporate emissions estimate of savings
16.10t
26.80t
0.00
5.00
10.00
15.00
20.00
25.00
30.00
2007/08
Buildings (cogen)
Street lighting
Fleet
Savingsgap *
2020targetrange
CorporateEm
ission
sin
tCO2e('0
00)
40% reduction
30% reduction
Current emissions Emissions savings Savings gap Emissions target
Figure 5 note: Estimate of emissions savings from cogeneration power (at Ashburton Pool & Leisure Centre) was completed by Enman Pty Ltd (environmental engineers). Estimates of emissions savings from street lighting and fleet actions were completed by Marsden Jacob Associates (independent consultants).
Corporate emissions - estimate of savings
Figure 5 - Contribution of key 3 year actions towards corporate target
City of Boroondara Strategy
10
Substantial additional actions (such as purchase of GreenPower, CPRS permits and/or credible offsets) maybeprioritisedoncethestatusoftheseactionsismadeclearinthefinalnationalemissionstradinglegislation and National Carbon Offset Standard. The Council’s monitoring and review plan (see Section 8) provides triggers to review the external context and identify and assess new opportunities on an ongoing basis.
6.3 Estimated savings from early actions
ByimplementingthepriorityactionsoutlinedinTable3,itispossibletoachievesignificantemissionssavingsthat will contribute to the achievement of the City of Boroondara’s 2020 targets. However, implementing these actions alone will not achieve the targets.
The initial three-year action plan (Section 7) goes into some detail on actions prioritised for early implementation, and where possible, the emissions savings from these actions has been estimated.
The contribution that these early corporate actions should make towards achieving the 2020 corporate target is illustrated in Figure 5.
* The ‘savings gap’ in Figure 5 is the gap between the emissions savings achieved by implementing the initial three-year action plan and the emissions target range of 30–40% reduction by 2020. To close this gapCouncilwill need tocontinue identifyingand implementingnewefficiencyopportunitiesacross itsoperations.
Our Low Carbon Future
Community emissions estimate of savings
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
2009/2010
2010/2011
2011/2012
2012/2013
2013/2014
2014/2015
2015/2016
2016/2017
2017/2018
2018/2019
2019/2020
Light bulbs Showerheads Solar water heaters Solar PV Savings gap
Yr 1 target - 12,400 tonnes saved
2020 target - 50,000 tonnes saved
Community emissions - estimate of savings
Figure 6 - Contribution of key actions towards Council’s community measures target
11City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
Overtime,Councilwillreviewprogresstowardsthetarget,andassessthecostsandbenefitsofinvestinginnewopportunitiesagainstthepurchaseofcarbonpermitsorothercertifiedoffsets.
To work towards Council’s community measures target for 2020, Council will be aiming to achieve substantial abatement from the prioritised community actions (Section 7.1). An estimate of the contribution these actions might make towards the 2020 target is illustrated in Figure 6.
Ultimately, the number of residents that take-up the various energy saving actions options over the comingyearsisuncertain.Inanycase,thereremainsasignificant‘savingsgap’forCounciltoachieveitscommunity target of 50,000 tonnes of CO2-e abatement by 2020. Over time, Council will need to identify and implement further complementary (and where possible, measurable) actions.
Figure 6 note: Estimates of emissions savings possible through supporting residential take-up of efficient light bulbs, showerheads, solar water heaters and solar PVs has been completed by Marsden Jacob Associates (independent consultants).
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6.4 Complementary actions
While the initial action plans focus on the highest priorityactions(generallywherecostsandbenefitshave been estimated), the strategy also incorporates a range of complementary actions. These actions build upon Council’s existing environmental and sustainability efforts, and are consistent with the strategy’s vision, principles and objectives. Where possible, the impact of these actions towards achieving the strategy’s targets will be monitored and measured over time. Such complementary actions include (but are not limited to):
Contribution to local government advocacy •relating to: the national emissions trading scheme or alternative (in particular, the need for strengthened national targets, and recognition of additional individual mitigation action); support for energy efficiency andrenewable energy technologies and practices; and removal of subsidies with perverse environmental outcomeseg.FringeBenefitsTax for cars etc.
Continued advocacy for ongoing improvements •to relevant Victorian and Australian policies, regulations and incentives (for example, minimum sustainability requirements in building codes, minimum energy performance standards and labelling for electrical goods, planning permit conditions and incentives etc). Review of Council policies, financial and•business plans, and internal processes to embed an ongoing commitment to energy efficiency and sustainable practice andoutcomes.
Increasing sustainability activities across •Council, through:
the high-level Sustainability Working ◦Groupinter-departmental‘GreenOfficeTeam’ ◦environmental purchasing (supported ◦through membership of the ECO-Buy green purchasing program)encouraging staff travel and commute ◦via carpooling, biking, walking and public transport
biodiversity plantings and vegetation ◦maintenance on Council and public land.
Promoting greater community understanding •of climate change (both its causes and likely impacts), and engagement in being part of the solution (by living, working and travelling more sustainably etc) through:
the proposed eco living centre as a ◦sustainability learning and community engagement hubthe GreenHouse Project: A project ◦supported by Sustainability Victoria in 2009-10 aiming to conduct energy audits in 1000 households across the City of Boroondarapromoting take-up of Victorian and ◦Australian Government grants and rebates for residents and businesses (for example, home insulation, green loans etc)increasing provision of walking and biking ◦paths and infrastructuresupport for the ‘Walking School Bus’ ◦programsupport for community and kitchen gardens, ◦composting and worm farming.
Our Low Carbon Future
13City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
This section outlines a preliminary plan for both corporate and community actions in the initial three years of the strategy implementation (2009-10 to 2011-12). As demonstrated by Figures 5 and 6 in Section 6.2, the contributions of these key actions toCouncil’sachievementofitstargetsissignificant,although not complete. Therefore, these action plans will be reviewed and updated as opportunities present themselves.
7. Action plan
City of Boroondara Strategy
14
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plem
enta
tion
over
2 y
ears
.
Ong
oing
via
re
plac
emen
t ev
ery
2 ye
ars
Des
crip
tion
Rep
lace
7,3
70
MV
80 la
mps
with
moreefficient
Twin
T5
lam
ps.
Inst
all a
235
kW
coge
nera
tion
plan
t at
the
Ash
burto
n P
ool a
nd
Rec
reat
ion
Cen
tre
(APA
RC
)7 with
a
conn
ectio
n to
th
e C
raig
Fam
ily
Cen
tre.
Tran
sitio
n to
sm
alle
r and
mor
e efficientvehicles
eg h
ybrid
veh
icle
s,
and
6 cy
linde
r to
4 cy
linde
r.
Prio
rity
actio
n ar
ea
Stre
et
light
ing
Bui
ldin
gs
Vehi
cle
fleet7.1
Cor
pora
te a
ctio
n p
lan
7 Esti
mated
finan
cial im
pacts
and g
reen
hous
e sav
ings f
or th
is ac
tion h
ave b
een d
evelo
ped b
y Cou
ncil w
ith as
sistan
ce fr
om E
nman
Pty
Ltd.
* The
exten
t to w
hich t
hese
actio
ns w
ill ad
dres
s obje
ctive
2 (to
redu
ce ag
greg
ate em
ission
s for
Aus
tralia
) is de
pend
ent o
n the
detai
ls of
the C
arbo
n Poll
ution
Red
uctio
n Sch
eme o
r alte
rnati
ve fr
amew
ork.
Our Low Carbon Future
15City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
Prin
cipl
es a
nd
obje
ctiv
es
addr
esse
d
Prin
cipl
es: 1
, 2,
3, 4
, 5
Obj
ectiv
es: 1
, 2,
3, 5
, 6
Prin
cipl
es: 1
, 3,
4, 5
Obj
ectiv
es: 1
, 3
Res
pons
ible
de
part
men
t(s)
All
rele
vant
de
partm
ents
(w
ith s
uppo
rt fro
m E
nviro
nmen
t an
d S
usta
inab
le
Livi
ng).
All
rele
vant
de
partm
ents
(w
ith s
uppo
rt fro
m E
nviro
nmen
t an
d S
usta
inab
le
Livi
ng).
Add
ition
albenefits/im
pacts
Otherbenefits(iesocial,
envi
ronm
enta
l, ec
onom
ic,
gove
rnan
ce)
See
king
gre
ater
ene
rgy
efficiencybecomes‘Business
As
Usu
al’ a
cros
s C
ounc
il.
Identifiessignificantenergy
savi
ng o
ppor
tuni
ties
and
syst
emic
impr
ovem
ents
for
sust
aina
ble
outc
omes
.
Assistsim
provedquantification,
track
ing
and
repo
rting
of
emis
sion
s an
d co
st s
avin
gs.
Assistsinidentification
and
asse
ssm
ent o
f new
op
portu
nitie
s.
Fost
ers
colla
bora
tion
betw
een
depa
rtmen
ts.
Estim
ated
gr
eenh
ouse
sa
ving
s (tC
O2e
)
Not
cal
cula
ted
Not
cal
cula
ted
Estim
atedfinancialimpacts
Cos
t sav
ings
Not
cal
cula
ted
Not
cal
cula
ted
Cap
ital c
ost
TBD
TBD
Tim
efra
me
2009
/10
2009
/10
Des
crip
tion
Rev
iew
Cou
ncil
Pla
n, re
leva
nt
policies,financial
and
busi
ness
pl
ans
and
proc
esse
s to
em
bed
prog
ress
to
war
ds s
trate
gy
obje
ctiv
es a
nd
targ
ets.
Est
ablis
h po
licy
rela
ting
to
min
imum
ES
D
in a
ll C
ounc
il re
furb
ishm
ents
an
d ne
w
build
ings
.
Impr
ove
man
agem
ent
of e
nerg
y us
e, c
ost a
nd
emis
sion
s re
late
d in
form
atio
n.
Ass
ign
acco
unta
bilit
y fo
r mon
itorin
g of
ene
rgy
use
and
cost
dat
a to
rele
vant
de
partm
ents
. E
stab
lish
proc
esse
s fo
r an
nual
em
issi
ons
inve
ntor
ies.
Prio
rity
actio
n ar
ea
Gov
erna
nce,
pl
anni
ng &
po
licy
Dat
a m
anag
emen
t an
d re
porti
ng
City of Boroondara Strategy
16
Prin
cipl
es a
nd
obje
ctiv
es
addr
esse
d*
Res
iden
tial
Prin
cipl
es: 1
, 2, 3
, 4
Obj
ectiv
es: 2
, 4, 5
, 6
Prin
cipl
es: 1
, 2,3
Obj
ectiv
es: 2
, 4, 5
, 6
Prin
cipl
es: 1
, 2,3
, 4
Obj
ectiv
es: 2
, 4, 5
Res
pons
ible
de
part
men
t(s)
Env
ironm
ent a
nd
Sus
tain
able
Liv
ing
Env
ironm
ent a
nd
Sus
tain
able
Liv
ing
Env
ironm
ent a
nd
Sus
tain
able
Liv
ing
Otherpotentialbenefits/im
pacts
Oth
er p
oten
tial
benefits(iesocial,
envi
ronm
enta
l, ec
onom
ic e
tc)
Sav
es re
side
nts
mon
ey o
ver t
ime.
Mar
ket s
uppo
rt fo
r lo
cal s
uppl
iers
and
in
stal
lers
of S
HW
H.
Pot
entia
l for
regi
onal
pa
rtner
ship
s to
bro
ker
bulk
-pur
chas
e.
Con
tribu
tes
to
chan
ging
com
mun
ity
attit
udes
rega
rdin
g su
stai
nabl
e en
ergy
so
lutio
ns.
Mar
ket s
uppo
rt fo
r lo
cal s
uppl
iers
and
in
stal
lers
of P
V
syst
ems.
Ong
oing
cos
t sav
ing
for r
esid
ents
.
Con
tribu
tes
to
chan
ging
atti
tude
s re
gard
ing
sust
aina
ble
ener
gy u
se.
Gre
enho
use
abat
emen
t (to
nnes
C
O2-
e)
Aver
age
4 t
CO
2-e
per
hous
ehol
d pe
r ye
ar.
Est
imat
ed
65 M
t ove
r 11
yea
rs
(from
1,5
00
hous
ehol
ds)
Aver
age
1 to
1.
5 t C
O2-
e pe
r hou
seho
ld
per y
ear.
Est
imat
ed
2,50
0 to
nnes
ov
er 1
0 ye
ars
(from
200
ho
useh
olds
)
1.5
to 2
t C
O2-
e pe
r ho
useh
old
per
year
.
Estim
atedfinancialimpacts
Payb
ack
perio
d
4 - 7
yea
rs
(dep
endi
ng o
n el
igib
ility
for
reba
te &
futu
re
ener
gy p
rices
etc
)
40 y
ears
plu
s (w
ithou
t reb
ate)
App
rox
15 y
ears
(w
ith re
bate
)
Est
imat
ed s
avin
g on
ele
ctric
ity
$1,500to$1,700
per h
ouse
hold
ov
er th
e lif
e of
the
bulb
s (a
ssum
es
16 b
ulbs
per
ho
useh
old)
.
Upf
ront
cos
t
Cou
ncil
staf
f tim
e
Pro
mot
ion
cost
s
Hou
seho
lder
s pay$4,100
-$4,800per
SH
WH
Hou
seho
lder
s pay$11,000to
$14,000
Cou
ncil
staf
f tim
e (m
inim
al)
Free
to
hous
ehol
ds
Tim
efra
me
Laun
ch
2009
/201
0 un
til
2011
/12
with
op
portu
nity
to
exte
nd.
2008
/09
- 20
09/1
0 w
ith
oppo
rtuni
ty to
ex
tend
.
With
in
2009
/201
0 w
ith
oppo
rtuni
ty to
ex
tend
.
Des
crip
tion
Stro
ng
prom
otio
n fo
r the
re
plac
emen
t of
inefficientelectric
wat
er h
eate
rs.
Pro
mot
e st
ate
and
fede
ral i
ncen
tives
/re
bate
s (a
s av
aila
ble)
.
Targ
eted
pr
omot
ion
for t
he
inst
alla
tion
of s
olar
ph
otov
olta
ic (P
V)
syst
ems.
Pro
mot
e st
ate
and
fede
ral
ince
ntiv
es /r
ebat
es
(as
avai
labl
e) e
g vi
a S
olar
Sub
urbs
.
Pro
mot
e in
stal
latio
n of
energyefficient
light
bul
bs th
roug
h ‘L
ive
Gre
en w
ith
LES
S’ p
rogr
am
(in p
artn
ersh
ip
with
Low
Ene
rgy
Sup
plie
s +
Ser
vice
s(LE
SS
))
Act
ion
area
Sol
ar H
ot
Wat
er H
eate
rs
(SH
WH
)
Sol
ar e
nerg
y
Ligh
t bul
bs
7.2
Com
mu
nit
y ac
tion
pla
n
* The
exten
t to w
hich t
hese
actio
ns w
ill ad
dres
s obje
ctive
2 (to
redu
ce ag
greg
ate em
ission
s for
Aus
tralia
) is de
pend
ent o
n the
detai
ls of
the C
arbo
n Poll
ution
Red
uctio
n Sch
eme o
r alte
rnati
ve fr
amew
ork.
Our Low Carbon Future
17City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
Prin
cipl
es a
nd
obje
ctiv
es
addr
esse
d
Prin
cipl
es: 1
, 2, 3
, 4
Obj
ectiv
es: 2
, 4, 5
Com
mer
cial
Prin
cipl
es: 1
,3
Obj
ectiv
es: 2
, 4, 5
Res
pons
ible
de
part
men
t(s)
Env
ironm
ent a
nd
Sus
tain
able
Liv
ing
Eco
nom
ic
Dev
elop
men
t
Env
ironm
ent a
nd
Sus
tain
able
Liv
ing
Otherpotentialbenefits/im
pacts
Oth
er p
oten
tial
benefits(ie.S
ocial,
envi
ronm
enta
l, ec
onom
ic e
tc)
Ong
oing
cos
t sav
ing
for r
esid
ents
.
Con
tribu
tes
to
chan
ging
com
mun
ity
attit
udes
on
ener
gy &
w
ater
use
.
Impr
oved
ass
et v
alue
an
d le
ase
rate
s an
d am
enity
of c
omm
erci
al
build
ing
stoc
k.
Impr
oved
hea
lth
and
prod
uctiv
ity o
f w
orkf
orce
.
Mar
ket s
uppo
rt fo
r lo
cal m
anuf
actu
rers
, su
pplie
rs a
nd in
stal
lers
of
gre
en b
uild
ing
serv
ices
and
pro
duct
s.
Gre
enho
use
abat
emen
t (to
nnes
C
O2-
e)
0.6
tCO
2-e
per h
ouse
hold
pe
r yea
r
Not
yet
ca
lcul
ated
Estim
atedfinancialimpacts
Payb
ack
perio
d
Est
imat
ed s
avin
g on
wat
er a
nd
energyof$50per
hous
ehol
d pe
r ye
ar.
Not
yet
cal
cula
ted
Upf
ront
cos
t
Cou
ncil
staf
f tim
e (m
inim
al)
Free
to
hous
ehol
ds
Cou
ncil
staf
f tim
e
Ret
ro-g
reen
ing
cost
s es
t. at
$850to$1,500
per m
etre
sq
uare
d.
Tim
efra
me
With
in 2
009-
2010
with
op
portu
nity
to
exte
nd.
From
200
9-20
10
Des
crip
tion
Pro
mot
e in
stal
latio
n of
energyefficient
show
erhe
ads
thro
ugh
‘Liv
e G
reen
with
Les
s’
prog
ram
(in
partn
ersh
ip w
ith
LES
S)
Pro
mot
e gr
een
retro-fittingof
exis
ting
build
ing
stocke.g.office
light
ing,
air
cond
ition
ing,
el
ectri
cal
equi
pmen
t etc
.
Act
ion
area
Sho
wer
head
s re
plac
emen
t pr
ogra
m
Com
mer
cial
B
uild
ings
(Offices)
heading
City of Boroondara Strategy
18
8. Monitoring and review plan8.1 Review checkpoints
Our Low Carbon Future Checkpoints
First public strategic review of the CPRS?
Checkpoints
Carbonpricefloats
CPRS Introduced (carbonpricefixedat$10/tonne)
Australian Offset Standard Released
CPRS Legislation draftedCopenhagen ‘09
(National target set at 5, 15 or 25%)
June 2012
July 2010June 2010
June 2009
3rd Internal Review
2nd Internal Review
Council endorses Strategy
Review Points
1st Internal Annual Review
Our Low Carbon Future
heading
19City of Boroondara Strategy
Our Low Carbon Future
8.2 Annual monitoring program
An annual internal review of the strategy and associated action plans will aim to ensure the strategy is on track to achieving its goals, to make amendments as required and to ensure that progress reporting is undertaken.
An annual review of the strategy would include:
Re-inventory of the City of Boroondara’s corporate •emissions. Preliminary assessment of progress against •targets. Analysisofthecostsandbenefitsofinvestment•inactionscomparedwiththecostsandbenefitsof purchasing credible offsets. Measure impact of implemented actions. • Review of the ability of actions to meet objectives •of this strategy. Where feasible, this will include a reportofactionsagainstfinancialcosttoCouncil(including cost of staff time) per tonne of CO2 saved compared with the current market rate.
8.3 Three-year monitoring program
A review of the strategy every three years would include:
Re-inventory of the City of Boroondara’s corporate •emissions. Re-inventory of the City of Boroondara’s •community emissions (from ABS). Assessment of progress against targets.•Review of the ability of actions to continue to •achieve a high rating against the principles. Development of an updated three-year action •plan taking into consideration the political context and new technologies.Analysisofthecostsandbenefitsofinvestment•inactionscomparedwiththecostsandbenefitsof purchasing credible offsets. Review of legislative, social and political context •with regard to climate change. Review feasibility of the strategy’s approach in •light of changes to social and political context and legislation.
Reporting indicators:The Global Reporting Initiative’s G3 Guidelines will provide structure and clarity on relevant reporting indicators.